Locator: 49030MUSIC.
Saturday, September 6, 2025
Buybacks -- September 6, 2025
Locator: 49029BUYBACKS.
CEOs and boards of directors generally don't like wasting / misspending money. Just saying.
There are so many story lines here.
This Is Why I Want Members Of US Congress To Invest In The US -- But It Must Be Transparent -- September 6, 2025
Locator: 49027PELOSI.
Seriously, is there anyone you would rather ask for investment advice than someone in the US Congress?
Link here. If this is accurate...wow!
Best in class:
Re-Posting -- For Investors In Tech -- I Can't Think Of Anything Else More Important -- September 6, 2025
Locator: 49026TECH. Re-posting.
Locator: 49020TRUMP. Original post.
The CEO of Intel did NOT attend this dinner at the White House.
Before you get started, some foreshadowing: the top ten list is more incredible than you might think. Especially the seating arrangement. It’s amazing the number of folks on social media who “don’t get this.”
Nvidia was not represented, but AMD was.
Look who's sitting next to President Trump: META CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.
Some of those in attendance:
But, but, but .... who was in attendance was important, but seating order is / was even more important. I asked ChatGPT who were the ten most important based on seating order ... here's the answer:
ChatGTP:
You’re asking for the top ten tech CEOs as inferred from their seating proximity alongside President Trump at this high-profile dinner—a fascinating way to interpret who’s considered most influential in the room.
Based on reported seating and prominence:
Seating-Based “Pecking Order” of Tech CEOs
-
Mark Zuckerberg (Meta) — Sat immediately to Trump’s right. That singular proximity signals the highest rank or influence.
-
Bill Gates (Microsoft Co-Founder) — Positioned next to First Lady Melania Trump, placing him in the inner circle.
-
Phrasing of others suggests immediate visibility — but not necessarily seating proximity. We’ll continue based on who was highlighted and where they sat:
-
Sundar Pichai (Google CEO) — Reported to be seated directly across from Trump.
-
Tim Cook (Apple CEO) — Also noted to have sat across from the president.
-
Sam Altman (OpenAI CEO) — Invited to speak, reflecting elevated status.
-
Satya Nadella (Microsoft CEO) — Though towards an end of the table, still in the core lineup. [OUCH!]
-
Sergey Brin (Google Co-Founder) — Mentioned as part of the main seating cluster.
-
Safra Catz (Oracle CEO) — Named among the central gathering of CEOs.
-
Sanjay Mehrotra (Micron CEO) — Included among those spotlighted for attendance.
For The Record -- Business Insider Is Wrong, Wrong, Wrong On This Issue -- September 6, 2025
Locator: 49026TECH.
The premise is entirely wrong. Entirely wrong. But for all the wrong reasons. LOL.
By Hugh Langley
Sep 4, 2025, 3:17 AM CT
From the linked article:
A market correction. A wake-up call. A great digestion. Call it what you want: AI is going through it. [A correction? LOL. Broadcom (AVGO) popped $45 / 10% or whatever it was ine one day last week. If that's a correction, I want to see more of it. LOL.]
Two things appear to be happening in tandem. Businesses are starting to finally grasp what AI can — and importantly, can't — do to boost their bottom lines. And the sky-high expectations that have been partly inflated and overhyped by AI firms over the past few years are finally coming down to Earth. [Businesses who think AI is too expensive are going to find out very quickly how expensive AI is if one doesn't have it. LOL.]
In short, it's increasingly looking like both the AI doomers and boomers were both wrong. AI's trajectory is starting to look less like a time machine or space elevator and more akin computers, smartphones, televisions: The technology will get better, it will almost certainly change our lives in the fullness of time, but it will more likely do so incrementally — to the point that if AGI (artificial general intelligence) or superintelligence do in fact one day arrive, it might not seem like much of a leap at all. [When was the transistor invented? When did we have our first personal computer? When did you quit using a simply Google search and switch to ChatGPT?]
There's perhaps no better example of this happening than OpenAI's latest and long-anticipated model, GPT-5, which was touted with a bang and landed with a shrug. Ahead of launch, OpenAI's Sam Altman said he'd felt "useless" compared to the model's intelligence, even drawing parallels with the Manhattan Project. When it arrived, users apparently felt less intimidated. "The degree of overhyping was too significant," one person wrote. "In the absence of massive gains, all you have is hype," wrote another.
But it may be a glimpse at our new reality, where the breakneck speed of AI progress is simply steadying, where progress cannot run on hype alone, and where we will neither experience an overnight white-collar job wipeout nor reach an AI abundance society overnight.
Welcome to AI's "meh" era. Stay calm. We've been here before. It'll all be fine. Probably.
When the internet revolution took hold in the late 1990s, companies were minting millions overnight with little more than a website and a savvy sales pitch. By the year 2000, the economic reality caught up to the hype, leaving trillions of dollars wiped out overnight. Not familiar? Go ask your parents what happened to Pets.com. [Or better yet, ask what happened to google.com.]
How AI Companies Are Spreading The Financial Risk -- September 6, 2025
Locator: 49026TECH.
Large
tech companies are using sophisticated financial strategies, such as
joint ventures, syndicated debt, and backstop agreements, to fund the
artificial intelligence (AI) buildout while minimizing their own
financial exposure
. Faced with the staggering costs of AI
infrastructure—including data centers, specialized AI chips, and
powerful servers—they are seeking outside capital, shifting some of the
enormous expense and risk associated with the AI arms race. Financial engineering to offload costs.
Companies like Meta and Google are using financial tools once confined to Wall Street to fund large-scale AI projects.
Joint ventures:
A prime example is Meta, which is raising a significant portion of the
$29 billion needed for its Hyperion data center in Louisiana through a
joint venture, enabling it to share the financial burden and limit the
debt on its own balance sheet.
Syndicated debt offerings:
The largest technology companies are increasingly using syndicated
debt, where a group of lenders provides funds for a large loan.
Backstop agreements: These financial arrangements provide a safety net, guaranteeing funds will be available if needed.
Diversifying supply chain and investment.
Tech giants are also using diversification to mitigate their investment
risks, especially regarding the crucial AI hardware supply chain.
Expanding beyond cloud infrastructure:
As AI infrastructure becomes an asset class in its own right, investors
are diversifying beyond major cloud providers (like Amazon, Microsoft,
and Google) into data center real estate, AI-focused ETFs, and venture
capital for AI chip startups.
Securing the hardware supply chain:
With geopolitical factors affecting the supply of components like
chips, tech companies are using AI to identify supplier risks and
diversify their base. This helps them preemptively address potential
disruptions by securing additional inventory or finding alternative
suppliers.
Moving toward "just in case":
Some companies are adopting a "just in case" approach to their supply
chain. This means building up buffer inventory and increasing production
capacity to ensure continuity during unexpected disruptions.
Collaborative risk management.
By collaborating across their organizations and with external partners,
tech companies can manage the ethical, reputational, and operational
risks inherent in AI.
Internal collaboration:
Managing AI risks, such as bias and security flaws, requires
collaboration between developers, data scientists, legal experts, and
compliance officers.
Shared governance: Tech companies are developing comprehensive risk management frameworks to manage AI projects throughout their development, deployment, and production phases. These frameworks help all stakeholders get a clear, shared view of the AI assets.
Public-private partnerships:
Governments and tech companies are increasingly collaborating on AI
infrastructure. Incentives like grants and tax breaks can help build
domestic AI and semiconductor infrastructure, further de-risking the
buildout.
Sophia Wins A Gold Medal In Today's Jiu-Jitsu Tournament, Dallas, Texas -- September 6, 2025
Locator: 49025SOPHIA.
Link here. Jiu-jitsu tournament in Dallas, Texas, where they take their sports really, really seriously.
In the video below, Sophia is in white, to the observer's left -- she outgrew her "black competition robe," and her new robe has not yet come in.
Sophia won all three matches by "submission," after getting her opponent in a "headlock" -- a dangerous position for. her opponent. In a headlock, the opponent will "tap out" -- the opponent will ask to stop the match so she (Sophia's opponent) is not injured.
Sophia has perfected her technique to bring her opponent down, bring her opponent down on top of her, wrap her long legs around her opponent, control her opponent, and then quickly, move her legs into a headlock -- Sophia's legs wrapped around her opponent's neck in a choke hold. Her opponent has no choice but to "tap out" -- concede, to prevent serious injury.
Matches are scheduled for 3:00 minutes. Sophia ended all three matches today, by submission. She ended the first two matches under 1:53.
In the video below, Sophia's South Korean coach was at the mat, filming. This was such a big deal, the wife of Sophia's coach was also at the mat, watching Sophia. The coach's wife is also a martial arts instructor, excelling in taekwando, rather than jiu-jitsu.
After the third win, in the video below, look how excited Sophia's coach was. I have never seen her coach so excited.
On the awards podium:
AI, Chips, Nvidia -- It's Not A Bubble -- September 6, 2025
Locator: 49024TECH.
It's not a bubble when demand for your product is so high, you need to rent back your own product to meet your own company's demand.
Tell me again this is a bubble.
And, then, of course, the $10-billion deal Broadcom just scored -- most likely with OpenAi.
The Magnificent Seven Is Now "The Great Eight" With The Addition Of Broadcom -- September 6, 2025
Locator: 49023TECH.
Link from Evan, Friday night, September 5, 2025. By the way, AAPL (Apple) is also showing new life.
Apple and Google: super-partnership. Link here. Most powerful alliance in tech -- The Verge.
Apple partnerships: backstory here.
Re-Posting: COP To Cut 25% (Or Perhaps More) Of Its Global Workforce -- September 5, 2025
Locator: 49021COP. Re-posting.
Locator: 49017COP. Original.
Updates
September 6, 2025: shortly after posting the original blog, this popped up, not a good look. Link here. Social media, via ChatGPT, suggests investors are getting antsy. Reminder, under CEO Lance, PSX has acquired Marathon Oil, Concho Resources, and Shell's assets in the Permian. With those acquisitions, PSX may yet prevail. A lot of good assets.
-
Under Lance’s watch, unit costs have risen from $11 to $13 per barrel, and the company announced plans to cut 20%–25% of its workforce (about 2,600 to 3,250 people) to save $2 billion by 2026.
Original Post
I cannot make sense of this. I can't explain it. ChatGPT is not helpful. But why is COP cutting 25% (or possibly even more) of its global workforce?
First thoughts:
- COP has way too many employees, even way more than its competitors, on a relative basis;
- COP sees the coming downturn in oil prices to be more severe than anyone else so far imagines;
- COP sees their own company's financial situation as more dire than how analysts see COP;
- COP is getting ready to reorganize; sell non-core assets;
- COP is getting ready to be acquired, making themselves more attractive to some other oil and gas operator (E&P, refiner) that wants to grow their own company, and do that by acquiring another fossil fuel company.
- a
change in leadership often results in such changes, e.g., through
reorganizations, but in this case, the current COP CEO has been in place
since 2012.
None of those possibilities look good, except perhaps the "M&A" angle.
White House Tech Dinner This Week -- A Stunning Video Of Who's Who In America And Their Pecking Order -- White House Dinner This Week -- A Stunning Video Of Who's Who In America And Their Pecking Order -- September 6, 2025
Locator: 49020TRUMP.
Look who's sitting next to President Trump: META CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.
Some of those in attendance:
But, but, but .... who was in attendance was important, but seating order is / was even more important. I asked ChatGPT who were the ten most important based on seating order ... here's the answer:
You’re asking for the top ten tech CEOs as inferred from their seating proximity alongside President Trump at this high-profile dinner—a fascinating way to interpret who’s considered most influential in the room.
Based on reported seating and prominence:
Seating-Based “Pecking Order” of Tech CEOs
-
Mark Zuckerberg (Meta) — Sat immediately to Trump’s right. That singular proximity signals the highest rank or influence.
-
Bill Gates (Microsoft Co-Founder) — Positioned next to First Lady Melania Trump, placing him in the inner circle.
-
Phrasing of others suggests immediate visibility — but not necessarily seating proximity. We’ll continue based on who was highlighted and where they sat:
-
Sundar Pichai (Google CEO) — Reported to be seated directly across from Trump.
-
Tim Cook (Apple CEO) — Also noted to have sat across from the president.
-
Sam Altman (OpenAI CEO) — Invited to speak, reflecting elevated status.
-
Satya Nadella (Microsoft CEO) — Though towards an end of the table, still in the core lineup.
-
Sergey Brin (Google Co-Founder) — Mentioned as part of the main seating cluster.
-
Safra Catz (Oracle CEO) — Named among the central gathering of CEOs.
-
Sanjay Mehrotra (Micron CEO) — Included among those spotlighted for attendance.
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